The Price of idleness
Household devices waste a lot of energy doing nothing
1 Electrical devices such as CD players, videos and burglar alarms are consuming more energy in stand-by mode than when they are actually being used.
2 Maria Sanchez and her colleagues from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Berkeley, California, tested more than 50 small electrical appliances, from computers to doorbells, electric movers, VCRs, and pool pumps. In the current issue of Energy Policy, they report that about half of all consumer electronics energy is used in stand-by mode. This costs American consumers $1 billion a year in wasted energy.
3 The researchers say that while electronic devices are lying dormant (休眠状态), running their clocks, maintaining internal memories or displaying their settings, they consume around 40 terawatt hours of electricity in the US every year -- enough to power a city such as Chicago or London. Many machines' use almost as much power on stand-by as when working. For example, it takes 15 watts to play a typical CD, but an average of 11 watts to keep it on stand-by. Satellite TV systems use 14 watts when active and 14 watts on stand-by. Given the long hours these systems spend idling, each uses far more power in stand-by mode than when actually working.
4 Bad design is largely to blame, says Sanchez. In a separate survey of CD players last year, her colleague Wolfgang Huber found that two machines with similar features used 28 watts and 2 watts respectively on stand-by. "For most products, we believe that stand-by power can be reduced to one watt or less," says Sanchez.
5 She backs proposals to set up a national labeling system to promote machines that meet this standard. Such a system could reduce stand-by power consumption in the US by 50 per cent, says co-author Alan Meier -- more than 20 terawatt hours per year. Last month, electronics company Philips announced the launch of a device that can dramatically reduce the power used in stand-by mode.
1 Paragraph 2 ____________
2 Paragraph 3 ____________
3 Paragraph 4 ____________
4 Paragraph 5 ____________
A Factor Leading to Energy Waste
B Home Appliances
C Proposals to Cut Energy Consumption
D Energy Consumption Test
E Terawatt Hours
F Nonessential Electricity Use
5 In the US the home appliances use ____________
6 The energy wasted by the electronic devices in the US is sufficient to ___________.
7 It is found that power waste is mainly caused by _____________
8 Philips started to develop a device that can greatly reduces _______________
A bad design
B the total energy of the country
C power a large city
D the most energy
E wasted energy
F stand-by power consumption
参考答案：D、 F、 A、 C、 D、 C、 F、 E
答案解析：
1. 作者在第二段的一开始就介绍了科学家Maria Sanchez和她的同事做的一个实验，他们检了50多种小家电，看看它们的耗电情况。后面讲的是实验结果等。显然，该段的第一句为主题句，概括了这一段的主要内容。根据这一线索，在选项中，我们发现选项D(“能量消耗试验”)的意思与此相符。因此，选项D为本题的答案。
2. 第三段第一句接上一段的内容进一步说明一些电器设备在休眠状态下每天的耗电量。接下来是举例说明。本段第一句同样也是本段的主题句。所给出的几个选项中，哪个选项的意思与这一句话的意思相近呢?显然，选项F(“无谓的耗电”)与本句意思相同，故为正确答案。
3. 文章的第四段进一步阐明导致电能被白白浪费掉的主要原因，作者引用科学家Sanchez的话，认为家电设备设计不合理是一个重要因素。第四段的第一句也是本段的主题句。选项A的意思是“导致电能消耗的因素”，与本段第一句意思相符，故为正确答案。
4. 文章第五段的第一句是该段的主题句，根据这段中出现的 proposal这个词就不难发现选项C为正确答案。
5. 整个文章一直在强调美国家用电器的耗电量如此之大，所以本题答案选择D.
6. 在第二段中，作者谈到“they consume around 40 terawatt hours of electricity in the US every year -- enough to power a city such as Chicago or London.”，美国电器消耗的电量足够为一个城市供电，所以答案选择C.
7. 在第二段的倒数第二句话中“In the current issue of Energy Policy, they report that about half of all consumer electronics energy is used in stand-by mode.”，我们得知大约一半的电器耗电量来自备用机器(stand-by machines)，所以答案选择F.
8. 本题的答案在文章最后一段的最后一句话中“Last month, electronics company Philips announced the launch of a device that can dramatically reduce the power used in stand-by mode.”，在本句话中，作者指出Philips 发明新装置的目的是减少备用电器消耗的电量，也就是损失的电量(wasted energy)，答案选择E.